Pearl Thusi has taken to Twitter to send a word of encouragement to those who are surviving without their parents.

In a video posted on Twitter, the actress and TV presenter, who was in tears, told her followers: "I don't know if it's the jet lag, but I'm emotional. I'm just thinking like... I wish my mom was here to help me with my daughter."

Pearl, who hosts MTV Base's Behind the Story, went on to share a word of encouragement. "To everybody out there just surviving without their parents, you're so strong. Just a word of encouragement, it's gonna be ok. It sucks but it's gonna be okay," Pearl said in the video.

Pearl's mother passed away in 2005. In an interview on SABC 1 talk show Zaziwa, Pearl shared how her mother passed way.

"She went to go stay with my grandma for a while, for them to take care of her. I think maybe they didn't want us to see how sick she was, I think. And all we knew is that she had gallstones," Pearl said on the show.

She said it was very painful, adding: "I sometimes wonder if, as her oldest child, if I did go and see her, like, would I have made any sort of difference, you know? Would she be alive?" Probably not, maybe I was not meant to see her in the state she was in. I don't know, and I'll never know."